Pages

Monday, December 16, 2013

Blog Tour: In Love and War by Carla Kelly

Book Description:

Beloved romance writer Carla Kelly shares a treasured collection of
wonderfully written stories of dashing war heroes and the sassy heroines
who can’t help falling for them. From daring sea captains to genteel
lords, there’s a little something for every heart’s fancy. Readers
everywhere will adore these four regency romances—now available together
for the first time in one must-have book!

Book Review: In Love and War is a collection of four novellas. The four novellas are (and I'm stealing the synopsis from Lady Wesley on Goodreads):* The Light Within - A Quaker widow from America is helped by the
younger brother of a spendthrift marquess who has returned from Waterloo
believing he has no future.

* A Hasty Marriage - While visiting a
friend in Portsmouth, an upper class spinster finds herself attracted
to an American sea captain from Boston, but war is breaking out and he
must flee before his ship is confiscated.

* Something New - A
Scots artillery major returns to England with a four-year-old French
orphan, and "decent" people seem to think he should turn her over to an
orphanage. The widow of a Navy captain, however, sees things differently

*
The Background Man - Although he was only a clerk for the East India
Company, a mild-mannered young man fought beside Wellington in India.
Now he runs a high-class hotel and is content with the hum-drum nature
of his life until an unusual guest arrives and shakes him up.

As with most novellas, the romances happen a little fast.
In some novellas it doesn't bother me, but in these four it seemed like
"instant love" (or lust in some cases), not "love at first sight" and
wasn't as believable. I felt like each story had a good premise though,
and were entertaining. Also, I get that it is generally accepted by
society that men had "experience", and that somehow made them better
men, but when I read a romance I don't want my male leads to have had
that "experience" or be bringing it up. It takes away from the romance
for me. I think my favorite story was The Light Within. The language threw me for a while (random Thee's and Thou's) but once I figured out why it didn't bug me as much. I thought it was fun that the younger brother "kidnaps" the wrong woman. I found The Background Man to be a sweet story too. The main character was a little old for my usual taste, but he was great. If you read any other reviews on this book you will most likely find that most people found the middle two books to be more towards their liking. If you read it, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

About the Author:

Award-winning author Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and
international publishing world. The author of more than thirty novels
and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co., Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the
recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars for romance writing) from
Romance Writers of America and two Spur Awards (think Oscars for western
fiction) from Western Writers of America. She is also a recipient of a
Whitney Award for Borrowed Light and My Loving Vigil Keeping.

Title: In Love and War: A Collection of Love Stories
Author: Carla Kelly
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Published: 2013
ISBN: 9781462112265Source: I received an eCopy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.